Agents, do you have a successful way of working with wholesalers?

Question

My team and I have been getting bombarded with wholesalers looking to get started in investing. We used to work with wholesalers but unfortuntely it has become a major waste of time. Typically what happens is the wholesaler is new, went to an event and now wants to find deals.

We find the deals, get them under contract and then the wholesaler can't produce their end buyer/investor and the deal crumbles. This is not only a waste of everyone's time but a bad mark on our team reputation here locally that I take seriously.

Due to this we stopped doing double closings and assignable contracts for wholesalers (we still do assignable contracts for a select few clients that have different scenarios that require it). We have started filtering these wholesalers out by requiring the end buyer to be on the offer from the beginning and the wholesale fee be worked out up front. This has screened out about 99% of the wholesalers.

I am getting so many buyer leads that want to wholesale still, so I thought it was worth asking if other agents have a process that has worked for them that is mutually beneficial where we can help these clients and actually get to the finish line without wasting all of our time. Thanks in advance.

Eliott Elias · Answer

Wholesalers are the key to good deals, most are new and can't find a deal to save their life, doesn't mean they can't be good deal finders in 3 months. Keep the relationships and continue to get deals sent to you by them.

Bryant Brislin · Answer

@Robert Adams in one state, I am an agent, have been an agent a long time, although I mostly work on land and commercial/multifamily. In another state, I am a wholesaler, and so I know how it works from both sides. If I was an agent listing SFRs, I probably wouldn't be excited about a wholesaler as the buyer, just because there are so many amateurs out there. As a wholesaler, I tell my employees that we want to be very careful as to what we work on, i.e. we don't want to tie up an owner-occupied house or house with tenants, unless we've told the seller that we are not 100% positive we can close on the property, and that's why we are asking for our option period. If the wholesaler is a kid in his 20's who has a bathroom selfie as his profile pic, then they are probably not a real buyer, even though they intend to try their hardest to find an end buyer, it's just risky. But as an agent, why would you knowingly go with a wholesaler, unless they are your only buyer?

Alex Talcott · Answer

Open to wholesalers, though I've only encountered one so far who as any idea what he's doing.

Phommala Songkhors · Answer

Hello , my name is Phommala. I Am a creative investor, I also wholesale. how can I be of service to you and your team ?I have a huge community of buyers that buy deals creatively. Subject to and seller financing, if you have anything that have been on the market for more than 90 days, we probably can help you find a buyer. :]would love to help !

Allan Smith · Answer

Well it seems OP has not received any helpful answers from agents. I'm not an agent but I can tell you most agents want to see proof of funds and thus make zero time for wholesalers.as a buyer, I have talked to dozens of wholesalers and 80% of them are an absolute waste of time for all involved. So good on you for even trying!

Katlynn Teague · Answer

@Robert Adams Happy Friday to you as well! I am happy to hear you know our company! I hope that you find a good solution soon, I know it can be tough as so many people try to wholesale when having little knowledge about real estate as a whole. Try passing them off to our Vegas office!

Robert Adams · Answer

Happy Friday! I’m familiar with networth I’m on your Vegas buyers list.We definitely get the wholesalers as much as possible but still seems to be a waste of time. I have exhausted everything I could think of to improve the process so I’m hoping to find a solution from others. Thank you for chiming in and trying to help.

Robert Adams · Answer

I am not referring to buying deals from wholesalers, but rather wholesalers reaching out to us to help them find deals. We do are able to help them find the deals but then they are unable to find end buyers and the deals fall apart wasting both their time and ours.

Robert Adams · Answer

I don't "go with a wholesaler" currently because of all the factors I mentioned above in the original post. If there are agents that have a solid process to work with wholesalers where it is not a waste of time and becomes mutually beneficial for the us and them then I am open to it. Hence my post/question. I have an extenisive databse of clients with over 31k contacts in my CRM so they are definitely not our only buyers lol. We currently don't work with them so it doesn;t take away time fromour other clients that are end buyers and sellers.With all that being said we are always looking for ways to improve and do more business and be of service to all those that would like to work with us.